(Adds details, background)
SOFIA, July 22 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's transport ministry on
Wednesday signed a deal with a consortium led by asset manager
Meridiam to run and operate Sofia Airport, the Balkan country's
main air transport hub, for 35 years, the government said.
Paris-based Meridiam, which has teamed up with Germany's
Munich Airport as operator for the airport, won a tender last
July, offering an annual concession fee of 24.5 million euros
($28.24 million) and investment of 608 million
euros.
The deal was signed on Wednesday after a Bulgarian court
cleared appeals by three other contenders for the concession: a
consortium led by France's ADP, Germany's Fraport
and Britain's largest airport operator Manchester
Airports Group.
Austrian construction company Strabag is also part
of the consortium that will run the airport as well as renovate
it and build a third passenger terminal.
Bulgaria picked the Meridiam-led consortium for the
long-term deal although the consortium did not offer the highest
annual concession fees, nor the biggest investment in the
airport.
($1 = 0.8677 euros)
(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Toby Chopra and
Jane Merriman)
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